69: Remembering Tommy LiPuma

This week the world lost a great record producer, and many lost a great friend. Tommy LiPuma died Monday night at the age of 80.

In this conversation, my father and I remember him, tell his story, and share short excerpts of recorded conversations with Tommy that were compiled during research for his (still forthcoming) biography.

These are tapes that for the most part were not meant for broadcast. They were recorded for the book, during car rides, in restaurants, and on the phone. It shows a very intimate side to him. Everybody knows the eminence, but few people know how he got there, why music was so important to him, or why he had so much empathy for the artists he worked with. 

There’s so much to tell, so many fantastic and illuminating stories. These particular stories talk about a time in his life that hasn’t been talked about too much - his childhood in Cleveland, how the radio was his best friend, and how music saved his life, and how being a barber got him to LA.